


The Pierce Struggle

by Theresa82



Series: The Pierce Sisters [3]
Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-02-23 13:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2549984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theresa82/pseuds/Theresa82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Book 3 in "The Pierce Sisters" series. AU: After failing to stop Klaus' spell, twin sisters Elena and Katherine are left with a girl mysteriously identical to them, an enraged hybrid, a kidnapped friend, and a town council that is getting a little to antsy for anyone's liking. While Katherine tires to fit in, Elena starts to wonder if there is something going on with her and Damon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Max

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I'm back. I'm so sorry it to so long to post this. I have been really busy with school and now I'm in a play so I have practices after school. Because of that and the fact that my chapters have gotten longer and longer, I don't think I am going to be able to post a chapter a day. I will try to post at least a chapter or two every week, but I can't make any promises.
> 
> Also, I think it would be great if I could get a beta reader for this series. Whenever I go back and read old chapters I always find tons of little mistakes that I wish I could fix. Being as I don't really have enough time to reread everything before I post it, I was wondering if any of you wanted the job. I always think it's a good idea to try and get a second opinion on my writing. So let me know if you are interested. However, because FF.Net is my main posting site, I would appreciate if you messaged me on there to be my beta. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of book 3, thank you for reading.

"Here, put her on the couch." Elena directed Caroline as they struggled to get Lexi's body in the house. Together, Elena, Caroline, and Alaric had somehow managed to get everyone back to the Salvatore's, including the body of Elena's dead doppelganger, at the request of Caroline.

They laid Lexi out on one of the couches. On the floor lay Stefan and Damon, who had thankfully only been knocked out, and the doppelganger had been put on the other couch.

Damon stirred just as they finished. He sat up and looked around. "Did we win?"

Caroline sighed and slumped down into a chair, covering her face.

Damon watched her and the others as they reciprocated her actions. "I'm going to take that as a 'no'." He stood up and walked over the bottle of bourbon, automatically pouring two drinks. He handed one to Alaric before taking a sip of his own. "Do I want to ask what happened?"

Elena walked over and poured herself a drink. Damon watched her, finding it amusing that she was drinking, but didn't comment. "Well." she began. "It was a blood bath. You, Lexi, and Stefan were down immediately, and we were no match for Klaus. He broke the spell."

Damon shrugged. "I figured. So where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." Elena answered.

There was a quick gasp and Stefan's eyes flew open, followed almost immediately by another gasp from Lexi.

"Hey Stefan, Lexi. Welcome back to the land of the living." Damon said.

The two of them looked around. Lexi sat up as Stefan came to join her on the couch. "So," Stefan said, "I'm assuming it didn't go so well?" The grim looks on his friends' faces gave him all the answer he needed. He nodded. "Thought so."

"So Klaus is a hybrid now?" Lexi asked.

"Yep." Alaric answered, popping the 'p'.

"Um . . . guys," Caroline started. The rest of the group turned to her. "I, think you need to know something." She hesitated, worried about what their reactions were going to be. "I . . . I gave her some of my blood." She said, pointing toward the Elena doppelganger. There was silence as they took in her words, slowly realizing what it meant. Caroline quickly continued, trying to explain herself. "I mean, she was hurt, and confused, and I needed to get her out of that clearing as fast as I could, so I gave her some blood so that she could make it out. And then Klaus came and killed her, and now . . ."

Everyone turned to watch the dead body, wondering when she would take her next breath.

"Who is she?" Elena asked. "How does she look exactly like me? I mean, Katherine is my twin, so it makes sense that we're identical, but this girl wasn't a vampire, which means she certainly isn't old enough to be a long lost triplet or something."

No one had an answer.

"Well," Alaric said, pushing off from the couch he had been leaning on. "If it's okay with everyone, I would like to head home and clean up. Nothing like a night of failing to stop an evil immortal vampire to sap all the energy out of you." The group nodded as he headed out the door. A second later they heard his car start and he drove away.

"I think I am going to do the same." Caroline said, motioning to where the teacher had just disappeared.

Lexi stood up and nodded at Caroline. "Me too." she turned to the others. "I'm heading upstairs to shower. I don't want any of you bothering me, okay?"

The group nodded and the two blond vampires took their leave.

******

Alaric decided that he need to get out. Otherwise, he would spend the whole day thinking about Isobel and worrying about what Klaus's next move would be. Thinking about his wife would drive him mad because he kept wondering what he had done wrong that drove her to become a vampire and turn off her emotions, while worrying about Klaus just made him extremely paranoid about something he had no control over.

He pulled up the contacts list on his phone and called the first person whose name made him smile. She answered the phone almost immediately and agreed to meet him as soon as he suggested it.

About fifteen minutes later, he walked into the Grill, looking around for her familiar face. She sat up and waved him over as soon as he spotted him. He made his way over and slid in the booth across from her. "Hey stranger." She said, by way of greeting.

He smiled, already glad he had made the decision to call her. "Hi Jenna. Thanks for meeting me."

She shrugged like it was no big deal. "Of course. You sounded like you needed a break from something on the phone and I'm totally cool with being a healthy distraction from whatever has you so upset."

Alaric noticed she didn't ask _what_ was bothering him. He appreciated that. She knew he had something going on, and she respected the fact that maybe he didn't really feel like explaining the fact that he had just seen his wife killed a second time after finding out she was an emotionless vampire.

"So," she continued after a moment, "I bet you can't beat me in a round of pool."

Alaric's eyebrows shot up. "Oh really?"

"Yep." She replied, her eyes glinting playfully. "You're the newbie in town. I've lived here almost my whole life. You'd be surprised how much I've picked up about pool."

"Well then," He said, getting up and backing towards the pool table so as not to turn away from Jenna. "It seems I have a bet to win." He spun around quickly and rushed to the pool table with Jenna following close behind.

******

"So, what do we do now?" asked Stefan. He looked around, first at his sort-of-girlfriend, then his brother. Neither of them had an answer for him.

"Well, what have you three gotten yourselves into now?" Katherine strutted into the room.

Elena groaned. "What do you want Katherine?" she asked.

Katherine shrugged and made her way over to the couch where the identical copy of both her and her twin was laying. She turned to Elena. "Who is this?"

Elena shrugged. "That's the problem. We don't know who she is or why she looks like us."

Katherine studied the body. "She's dead?" She asked. Both noticing the fact and asking the other question that needed to be answered when you were lived in a world of vampires.

Elena caught on to the actual question. "Not for long." she answered.

As if to prove Elena's point, the girl suddenly sat up, taking in a deep breath. She quickly looked around, trying to get her bearings, before shying away from the window. Elena noticed this and nodded at Damon. "Could you shut the curtains?"

He stood up quickly and made his way over to the window, drawing the heavy curtains across the old window panes.

Elena took a step toward the girl who seemed to just be noticing the fact that there were two other people in the room that looked identical to her. She shrunk back in her seat, quickly glancing at Stefan and Damon the only "normal" people in the room from her point of view.

"Who are you people?" She asked. "What happened? The last thing I remember I was at the store and then some crazy guy grabbed me, saying something about a spell and he told me not to move, and then I couldn't. And then he took me to a clearing in the forest somewhere and then . . ." she hesitated. "I don't really remember anything after that." She looked around again, begging them to explain to her what was happening.

Katherine glanced at Elena. "Wow, you three really _have_ been busy. Trying to stop Klaus's spell? That was rather ambitious of you. How'd that turn out?"

Elena glared at her twin again. "Maybe you should leave." She gestured at the girl. "You're freaking her out."

Damon snorted. "Maybe _you're_ freaking her out Elena." He said, raising his eyebrows.

"Actually," the girl cut in, "You're _both_ freaking me out. There's another question; why, or how, do we all look identical?"

Elena glanced at Katherine, and then back to the girl. "Well, Katharine here is my twin, so that is why we look the same, but I don't know why you look like us too. That is one question that I don't have the answer to. However, there are a few things you should know, and then there will be a lot more questions that I will have the answer too."

The girl crossed her arms. "What are you talking about?" she accused. "Stop beating around the bush. What's going on? You haven't answered any of my questions."

"What's your name?" Stefan asked, speaking up for the first time since the girl had woken up.

She seemed slightly taken aback by his change of topic and genuine concern. "Max Fletcher." she answered him after a moment.

"Hi Max." He said, "I'm Stefan, and this," he gestured to his brother, "Is my brother Damon. That's Elena, and that's her twin sister, Katherine." He pointed to each person as he introduced them. "The man who kidnapped you, his name is Klaus. He got away, but you're safe now."

"Okay . . ." Max said, taking in all the new information. "So, what is it that none of you want to tell me?" There was an uncomfortable silence as each person in the room would take the responsibility of telling her of her new 'dead' status. She looked around expectantly. "You didn't _really_ think I didn't notice how all of you were acting? There's something you're not telling me. Something big."

There was another pause before Katherine threw her hands up into the air. "Oh for goodness sakes." She looked at Max. "You're a vampire."

******

Jeremy walked up to his front door and tried the knob. He knew his Aunt Jenna had gone out to meet with his teacher, but he wasn't sure if she had remembered to lock the door. Apparently she had because the door didn't open. Jeremy reached above the door to find the spare key they kept hidden on the door frame. He ran his fingers along the length of the tiny shelf made by the frame, but there was no key.

"Looking for this?" Said a voice to his right. Jeremy looked toward the speaker. A man stood there holding the house key out to show Jeremy.

"Who are you?" Jeremy said. He knew he shouldn't talk to strangers, but this stranger had the key to his house and Jeremy couldn't get in.

The man pushed off the side of the house where he had been leaning. "That's the question, isn't it? Everyone wants to know who I am. Well, I recently redefined myself. I'm the first ever hybrid." Jeremy started to back away. This man was clearly crazy. "However, I am having a bit of a problem." The man continued. "You see, I tried to sire more hybrids, but they all died. So now, I need a witch to help me speak with my dead mother so she can tell me what I did wrong and how to fix it."

Jeremy started looking around, searching for a weapon as the stranger continued to advance toward him. "Well," he said, "I am not a witch, so I'm afraid you're out of luck." Jeremy decided to play along with the man's crazy ramblings.

"No. But the witch I want isn't going to help me willingly. I need leverage. And I'm willing to bet that she will do anything for anyone in this town. You're just an easy target." The man lunged, his face suddenly changed into something demonic.

Jeremy tried to pull away but the man bit into his neck. He struggled to get free but had no luck. He felt himself going faint and collapsed to the ground the moment the man let him go. His vision went black.


	2. December 17th 1917

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long. I am currently working on Chapter 3, but with school and Play practice, I don't know when I will be able to get it up. My goal is to have it for you guys sometime this weekend, but I can't guarantee anything.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I'm really excited for the flashbacks this story. I think they are my favorite yet.

December 19th 1917 (1):

Elena motioned for the bartender to refill her drink another time. He walked over and poured more of the liquid into her shot glass, throwing her a concerned glance. She had lost count of how many she had had, but if she had been a normal human, she would have been so drunk by that point that she probably couldn't even remember her own name. Luckily for her, she wasn't a normal human, and that came with quite a few perks.

"Hello sugar." A man scooted up next to her. His clothes looked as if they hadn't been washed in months and his hands were calloused and rough. "Aren't you quite the pretty thing to be sitting here, drinking all by your lonesome."

She didn't even give him a glance, but instead picked up her recently refilled shot glass and downed it. "Sometimes woman just want some time to themselves." she replied when she had swallowed the contents of the glass.

He scooted closer and she could feel his breath on her neck. It wrecked and she gritted her teeth. "Oh, come now. Don't you want to have some fun?"

She turned to him and looked him in the eyes. "Leave this bar, start down the main road in whatever town this is, and then walk until your shoes fall off your feet."

He nodded slowly before systematically getting up and heading out the door, another advantage to her being more than human. She turned her attention back to the bartender, gesturing for yet another refill.

The front door opened again, letting a unusually cold drift of wind and a few snowflakes flutter into the room. She still had her back to the door, but her senses were on hyper alert and she knew who the new arrivals were before they even said anything. She could hear their hearts racing a mile per minute and the slight clicking sound of metal against metal as their badges swung against the guns hidden in their coats.

"Don't make a move." One of them said. She could practically feel the presence of the weapon pointed at the back of her head. It almost made her laugh at how clueless they were. She slowly raised her hands, letting the corners of her mouth creep up into an empty smile. "You have no idea who you are dealing with."

The rest of the place had gone quiet. Everyone was watching like it was a show put on for their amusement.

The policeman standing directly behind her with his gun to her head was the one to answer. "You are under arrest for-"

She didn't let him finish her sentence. In a flash, she was at his neck, biting down into his carotid artery. Normally, she would never let herself do this, but that was yet another advantage to being a vampire. She could turn it off, and just not care that she was hurting someone. She could enjoy the kill.

The rest of the customers began to panic, trying to run for the door, but she was too fast. She quickly cut them off at the door. The first one to reach her was a boy, about her age. He looked startled by her sudden appearance in front of him. "Forget everything that you saw here, and leave." She shoved him out the door, and did the same to the next person.

The other officer, who had run to his friend's side as soon as she had let him go, was turning his attention back to her, hatred and terror in his eyes. "What have you done to him? What kind of monster are you?"

The rest of the customers were now cowering to the sides, knowing better than to try and make a run for it, so Elena decided to indulge the officer's question. "I think you know what I am." She said, slowly walking toward him, letting herself enjoy the game without her feelings getting in the way. "You policemen have been calling me it for weeks, but you never really believed it to be true, did you? It was just a nickname because you didn't know who I was."

He pulled back, narrowing his eyes at her. "It's impossible. There is no such thing as a . . ." His voice trailed off, unable to finish his sentence because of his disbelief.

Elena smiled wickedly. "Say it. What have you policemen been calling me?"

He gulped and managed to squeeze the words out. "The Vampire Killer of the East Coast."


	3. Snatch, Eat, Erase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I owe you all an apology for the late chapter, so I am so sorry. I didn't know it would take this long to write, but as I have said before, I have been pretty busy recently. However, last night I finally managed to sit down and finish the chapter, so I apologize if the writing is not that great. I was writing it at 12:30 at night, trying to finish.
> 
> Also, the position of a beta reader is still open, so if you're interested, just let me know (again, if you could use my FF account, that would be awesome. I'm under the username Theresa82). All you gotta do is read it over and make sure all my spelling and grammar make sense and that there are no blaring plot holes.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

"So _how exactly_ did we get landed with babysitting duty?" Caroline asked Stefan for what seemed like the hundredth time.

He sighed and explained it to her again. "No one else can do it. Elena and Katherine still freak her out with the whole identical thing, so if either of them tried I think it would just make it worse. And anyway, I think Elena is tired of trying to explain everything to her. Damon and Alaric are both humans, so both teaching her how to be a vampire and being able to take her down if she decided to eat someone are kinda not in their ability. Lexi hasn't put down a book in days. She's trying to figure out why Max looks exactly the same as Elena and Katherine. Even Bonnie's been MIA. No one can get a hold of her to see if she could make Max a daylight ring. So that leaves us."

Max thumped down the stairs in the Salvatore house towards Stefan and Caroline, having cleaned up and borrowed some of Elena's clothes. Maybe being a body double had some perks after all.

"Come on." She said, nodding at the window where it was almost dark. "I haven't been out in days and I'm can't stand it anymore. I hate this whole, 'can't walk in the sun' thing."

Caroline turned to Stefan and gave him a look before putting on a fake smile and standing up. "Well hopefully we will be able to find Bonnie so she can make you a daylight ring, but until that time, you're stuck with us." She turned to Stefan. "If we are going to do this, we are going to do this right." She turned back to Max. "First rule. No eating people."

Max nodded. "Got it. Anything else?" Caroline was almost caught off guard with Max's sincerity. The newbie really did want to get this right. For someone who had never dreamed anything supernatural existed before she was kidnapped and killed by Klaus, she was pretty cool with the whole 'being dead' thing. Elena, Stefan, and Damon had done their best to explain everything they could to her after Katherine dropped the bombshell. Katherine, on the other hand, had zipped off somewhere before she could say anything else.

They told her as much as they could about all the perks and pitfalls of being a vampire, but in the end, they all knew that only experience would tell if Max was cut out for the life. Being told about the craving for blood and trying to fight through it were very different things.

Max had seemed especially excited about her new supernatural abilities, super hearing and speed as well as compulsion. She had wanted to try them out as soon as she learned about them, but Elena finally got her agree to at least wait till they could get her a daylight bracelet.

However, after a few days with no word from Bonnie, everyone was starting to get uncomfortable. Elena had finally given in to Max's begging and had somehow convinced Caroline and Stefan to take her out as soon as it got dark.

Caroline turned to Stefan before answering Max's question. "The only other rule is have fun."

Max bounced on her toes. "Okay then. Let's get going." She headed to the door and finally stepped outside. Caroline and Stefan followed behind her. The three of them jumped in the car, Caroline told Stefan to drive to the only place she knew there would be people, the Mystic Grill. Her thought process was that it was only going to hurt Max to be isolated from the world. If she got out in the world and interacted with people in a public space with Caroline and Stefan watching over her, there was little risk of her going ballistic and killing someone, but also the opportunity to teach a little 'snatch, eat, erase'.

After a few minutes, they pulled up to the Grill and filed into the town hang out place. As Caroline had predicted, the place was pretty busy. The group of three stood at the entrance for a moment before Matt, who was working the bar, motioned them over.

"Hey Stefan, Caroline, Elena." He greeted them as old friends, but Caroline noticed that he gave 'Elena' a funny look. He may not have known Elena very well, but even he could tell something was off.

Stefan ordered a drink and Matt walked off to fill the order.

Max turned to Caroline as soon as he was out of hearing distance. "Boyfriend?"

"How did you know that?" Caroline said, as threatening as she could be without actually showing any fangs.

Max shrugged. "It's not hard to tell. But you didn't say hi back. Why was that?"

Caroline thought back. "It's just a little hard sometimes. He doesn't know what I am. I don't want to hurt him." Caroline watched as Max pulled back, thinking through her answer. "Anyway," Caroline said, trying to lighten the mood. "I think it's time to teach you to feed without ripping someone's head off."

The two girls stood up. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds like a blast." Max remarked sarcastically.

Caroline turned back to Stefan who was still sitting. "You coming?" She asked. Caroline could tell Stefan was hiding something. He didn't know that she had noticed his change in mood and general distance from her ever since Klaus's spell, but Caroline was determine to figure him out eventually.

He shook his head. "No, I think I just need a drink. The normal kind."

She nodded before turning back to Max. "Okay, so first step. Scan the crowd. Look for someone you think you can get alone."

The girls scanned the room. Max pointed to man who looked to be about 25, sitting alone. "Him." she said.

Caroline nodded. "Good choice. Okay, now you are going to get him alone. Lead him to the hallway in the back."

Max nodded again and walked over to the booth. Caroline watched from the counter as the man stood up and followed her around the back. Caroline followed after them a second later.

Max and the man were talking as Caroline walked up. Max turned to her, obviously nervous and her eyes pleading to be told what to do next. Caroline addressed Max as her conversation fell off with Caroline's approach. "Now. Look him in eyes. Tell him not to be afraid or scream." Max did as she was told and the man nodded.

Caroline was about to tell her this was when she was supposed to feed, but she didn't need to. Max's instincts kicked in. She was biting down on the man's neck in a flash. Caroline waited a moment to let Max get a decent amount, and then tapped the girl's shoulder. Max pulled back, running her arm across her face to get rid of the excess blood. "Now what?"

Caroline nodded to the man again. "Tell him to forget this ever happened." Max compelled him to forget and then the two girls let him in the hallway, a bit confused about how he had gotten there.

When they got back to the bar, Stefan was gone.

******

Jeremy slowly drifted back into consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the fact that he seemed to be sitting in a chair somewhere with his hands tied behind him.

The next thing he noticed was the pain. His neck where the crazy man had bitten him throbbed.

He opened his eyes to a sight that he never could have imagined. Bonnie Bennett, whom he know from around school, was sitting on the floor a few feet away from his chair encircled by candles and chanting. As if that sight wasn't enough, spotting the crazy man standing over her, watching intently, made Jeremy's stomach twist into a knot.

Jeremy remembered what the man had said about needing a witch for some type of seance. He had just decided that Bonnie must have just been playing along with their captor and his fantasies, when the flames jumped into the air, all in sync. He did his best attempt to jump back as far as he could into his chair and away from the flames.

Bonnie's chanting grew louder. Her eyes were closed and she had her arms outstretched. The candle flames seemed to listen to her commands, and soon burned down to almost nothing.

She opened her eyes. "It worked. What do you want me to ask her?"

The man replied without hesitation. "I want you to ask her why I can't make any more hybrids. I did everything right. Why didn't it work?"

Bonnie nodded and took a second to throw a quick glance in Jeremy's direction before she closed her eyes again in concentration. There was another silence as Bonnie tried to converse with the woman the man so desperately wanted answers from.

Finally she turned back to their captor with hatred in her eyes. She obviously didn't want to tell this guy whatever it was she was about to tell him. "She says the doppelganger is still alive. You failed to kill her and that's why you can't make any hybrids successfully."

There was a moment as the man took in this information. He seemed to shake with rage. Then he snapped. He picked up the thing closest to him, which happened to be a lamp, and threw it against the wall with a yell of anger. The light shattered on impact, the glass shards of a broken lightbulb scattering across the floor.

"No!" The man wailed. His face changed from rage and pain to hatred and determination in an instant. "She will not thwart me even from her death. I will find a way around this." He headed towards the door.

"Wait, please." Bonnie said. She gestured to Jeremy. "If you're not going to let me go, you could at least set him free. He doesn't know anything about any of this stuff."

The man turned around to face Bonnie with an evil smirk. "It looks like I did a good job picking my motivator. If you're so desperate to have me set him free, all the more reason to keep him. Need you to be cooperative." He waved his hands around. "Anyways, he knows about all this stuff now."

******

Elena walked into the Salvatore's living room carrying a cup of freshly made coffee. Despite having borrowed her own home across town, Elena had been spending more time at the Salvatore's house then her own. With helping out Max, watching out of Stefan and Caroline, who were also still new vampires, and checking in with Lexi every once in a while for progress on the doppelganger mystery, Elena had all but moved in.

As she headed to take a seat in one of the comfy chairs, she noticed Damon was already sitting on one of the couches reading a newspaper, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Taking a break from baby sitting?" He asked, looking up from the paper.

She nodded. "I let Stefan and Caroline take her out last night. I think it will be good for her to get out."

"Yeah." He said, slowly nodding, probably without even realizing it. "How's Stefan doing anyway? Ever since he . . . turned, we haven't been as close."

Elena shrugged. "Honestly, I don't really know either." She paused, trying to decided just how honest she should be with her boyfriend's brother about their relationship, but finally decided she needed to get it off her chest. "We're still together, but he seems distant. He's constantly distracted. It's probably just the bloodlust and the fact that he's still new at all this, but . . ." she looked up at Damon. "I don't know, something doesn't feel right."

He didn't say anything for a while. "I wonder if I could talk to him. See if there is something on his mind." he finally suggested.

"No, forget it." Elena said, trying to brush it off. She didn't want to bother Stefan about her worries about them and she definitely didn't need Damon to talk to him about it. "It's probably just nothing."

"Elena." Damon said. She looked up into his eyes. "I don't want my brother to hurt you."

"Damon, you know he can't hurt me, even if he wanted to."

"Not that kind of hurt."

******

"Elena. We have a big problem." Caroline rushed in the front door behind Max just as the sun reached it. Max looked terrified, probably from almost being burnt alive.

Elena and Damon looked up from where they were sitting. The moment she spotted the two girls, Elena stood up and rushed over. "What is it Caroline? You almost got Max killed?"

"What?" Said Caroline before spotting the Elena comforting Max, whose skin had just healed from the journey there. "Oh, no, not that. A different, bigger problem."

Elena looked up, noticing the third presence that was missing. "Where's Stefan?"

Caroline bit her lip.

"Caroline. Where is Stefan?"

"That's the problem." Caroline said. "I don't know."

"Stefan!" Damon said from the living room. The three girls turned to see a perfectly safe Stefan coming down the stairs.

Caroline zipped over to him. "Where have you been?"

Stefan shrugged. "I just wasn't feeling well. So I came back home."

That didn't satisfy Caroline's anger thought. "Well. You could have _told me_ where you were going. You just disappeared. I've been freaking out, looking for you everywhere!"

Stefan stepped around her to continue down the stairs. "Look. I'm sorry Caroline. I just didn't feel well is all."

Caroline huffed again but didn't say anything else. She wasn't going to get anything else out of Stefan.

"Well that was dramatic." The group turned to face the doorway, now that Elena and Max had made their way into the living room.

"Katherine?" Damon said. "What are you doing here?"

"Ugh. Not another one of me." Max groaned and stood up. "I've had enough of this for today. I'm heading upstairs."

Max made her way out as Katherine strutted her way to the front of the room. "I'm here, Damon, to join you." There was a silence as everyone tried to figure out what Katherine meant by what she had just said. "I'm going to join your little gang, Elena."

Elena stepped forward. "Katherine, what are you talking about?"

Elena's twin motioned to the people around the room. "You have gathered yourself a nice little group of friends, a few vampires, a few humans, even that hunter Alaric." She shrugged. "I want to join."

Elena squinted at her sister, hoping it would expose some type of ulterior motive. "Why?"

"Look, ever since I won my freedom from Klaus,"

"By handing over your own sister," Damon interjected.

"I have been looking for something to do," Katherine continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "and right now, joining your gang is in my best interest. You are both against Klaus, and actively trying to figure out what exactly is going on with that girl Max."

"Okay, fine." Elena said. "You're in."


	4. December 17th 1917 (2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys. So I think it's official. I'm not going to be able to update this any more then once a week. Since the last two times I updated was on a Thursday and that's also TVD day, I think that my goal is going to be to try and get a chapter up every Thursday. I have not been writing at all recently, but since I had this chapter all ready done, I thought I would post it for you a little early. Since my play is this Friday and Saturday, I should hopefully have some more time next week to write.
> 
> Also, the position of Beta reader is still open, so just sent me an ask on FF.net (username: Theresa82) if you want and early look at my writing.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to all of you guys who have stuck with me. I this is the first of the many flashback chapters like this. You guys are going to eventually get to see a whole lot more about Katherine and Elena's past in this AU and just how exactly they got to where they are today. I really love what I have planned, and I hope you guys like it too.

December 19th 1917 (2):

Katherine groaned when she heard the click of keys against the lock. She sat up slowly, doing her best to ignore her discomfort, and fixed her glare at the door as it was swung open from the outside.

"Where have you been?" She asked in mock concern. "I was getting worried something happened to you. Then I wouldn't have anyone to torture me anymore."

Klaus chuckled, finding amusement in Katherine's biting sarcasm. "Oh my dear Miss Pierce, I can assure you, there was no need to worry." He spread his arms wide. "I'm immortal. Even to a wooden stake, and, as you learned, the daggers and ash that can take the rest of my family down."

"Yeah." She said. "Got it, thanks."

He crouched down in front of her, turning head her to face him. "You do not look well."

She jerked her head out of his hand, turning to stare at the wall. She knew he was right. She could feel the matted mess called hair on her head. She didn't even have any hair pins to keep it under control because Klaus had been smart enough to take them from her to keep her from picking the lock. The makeup that she had been wearing the day he had captured her had worn off long ago, leaving grease and dirt in it's place. Her dress was so torn and faded that it was more of a rag then anything else, but being as it was the only fabric in the room, she had torn off pieces of it to serve as napkins and handkerchief.

It had been 22 years, 9 months and 13 days. Katherine had thought at first that it would get easier. That the days would blur into each other, but she had been wrong. She could remember every day. Every torture session. Every time she felt the stab of hunger, no, craving in her stomach. Klaus had made sure she was getting just enough blood a day to keep her from shriveling up like an old grandma because she wouldn't be as much fun to torture that way.

She was trapped, starving, and miserable, but she did everything in her power to keep Klaus from knowing that. She couldn't show him that she felt defeated. She was a Pierce, and Pierces survived. She was going to escape eventually, and when that day came, she would make sure never to be a prisoner again and make sure her sister payed for leaving her to Klaus.

"Well," she said, turning back to face Klaus, "Are you going to get on with it, or just continue making fun of me?"

"Oh, but this is the fun part." he said. "Physical torture just isn't enough for me anymore. I have something a little more fun in mind." He looked into her eyes. "Don't move a muscle. Don't want you getting the upper hand."

She felt her body stiffen in the awkward position she had been sitting in. Klaus reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear, then slowly moved his hand to her chin, tracing her jawline.

Suddenly she wasn't in the cell anymore. She was back in her house in Mystic Falls, 1862. She could remember the day. Her mother had told her she wasn't allowed to go out to a dance that someone was holding in town. She had gotten into a huge argument with her over it and it became a shouting match. It was one of Katherine's worst memories. She had hated arguing with her mother.

" _You never know what kind of dangers are out there._ " Her mother had said.

This was before she knew what her mother was really talking about. Looking back, Katherine saw that all she had ever been doing was trying to protect her, but at the time Katherine had thought she was being overprotective.

" _Mother, there will always be dangers. But you have to let me live my life._ " Katherine said, reliving the memory.

"Well this is interesting."

Katherine spun to her right where Klaus stood. "No." She said. "You can't be here. This was before . . ." she shook her head, disoriented by the past and present colliding in this dream-like world.

"Is this really your worst memory?" Klaus asked. He was the only solid presence in the room. _That's because it's his manipulation of my dream_ Katherine realized.

That night, Katherine had snuck out and she went to the dance anyway. When her mother had realized that she was gone, she had come after her. Her mother had died with two puncture marks on her neck, drained of blood that night while she was out looking for Katherine. She hadn't thought much of the way her mother died at the time, but now she knew the truth. Her mother had been right. She shouldn't have gone out. If she hadn't gone out, her mother would never have come after her, an action that had resulted in her death.

Katherine tried to focus. _This is my dream_ she told herself, concentrating on changing the scene. Nothing happened.

" _Please, Katherine. Just listen to me. Don't go tonight._ " He mother pleaded with her.

" _Why?_ " Katherine had asked.

" _I can't expla-_ " her mother in her dream choked, cut off mid sentence. Katherine instantly knew something was wrong. _This isn't how it happened before._

Her dream mother dropped to the floor and behind her stood Klaus, clear and sharp in stark contrast to the fuzzy dream world around him. He was holding a heart in his hand. Her mother's heart. "This was your fault." He said, gesturing toward her with the heart. "You did this to her. She ran out after you. And now she's dead."

"No!" Katherine yelled, snapping herself back into the present, tears streaming down her face. He had broken her.


	5. Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So confession time. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to get this chapter up in time for you all. You see, my family is hosting thanksgiving dinner this year and as I have been in the play for so long and then just had no motivation to write for a while, I didn't start writing this till Tuesday. Then, today my mom wanted me to help her cook cookies and clean up the house in preparation for everyone coming over today. But somehow, I found time to sit down and write this chapter.
> 
> So since I posted the last chapter on Wednesday last week, I'm going to post this chapter today, and I already have the next chapter written, so I will post that tomorrow. Seeing as there is no TVD on this week, I thought I'd give you two chapters instead of one.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for all your continued support, you guys are awesome. And to that reviewer who said they wanted more delena, hold on. I promise it's coming. I just want to show just how much Stelena doesn't work before Elena turns to the older brother.

After the "gang" had tried discussing how to defeat Klaus as well as the mystery of Max and come up with nothing new, they had dispersed, most of them headed toward the school. Katherine disappeared and Damon was left alone in the house. He had decided to take a day trip to the bar before snooping around at the library where Lexi had been holed up in a desperate attempt to find anything useful. It was no use. Damon couldn't find any "An Idiot's guide to Defeating An Evil, Thousand Year Old Vampire, Werewolf, Hybrid" in stock.

Finally, he gave up all together and headed home. He had just poured himself a glass of bourbon when he felt a presence behind him. It was amazing, that although they looked identical, even their presences felt so different. Damon knew it was Katherine before he even turned around. "What was that little stunt you pulled this morning?" He said, skipping any pretense.

Damon felt her hand on his shoulder. "What little stunt? Maybe I really want to join your little gang."

He turned around to face the vampire. "You visited me for weeks, using me just to get information about Elena, didn't you?" Katherine didn't seem concerned. Damon continued, "Now that I remember everything, I've put it together. You never were there for me, you were there to further your plan to freedom."

Katherine shrugged and stepped in closer. "You never protested. And just because I wanted information doesn't mean I didn't enjoy our little visits."

Damon didn't move, not having anything to say against her claims. She slowly reached up, about to kiss him, but he stopped her with another question. "Katherine. Why did you say you wanted into our 'little gang'?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, stepping away from Damon and sliding her hand along the back of the couch. "I have been at the mercy of Klaus my entire life. I'm tired of it. I'm free now. And I want revenge." She turned back to face Damon. "I want to make him suffer like he did to me."

Damon was taken back by this response. He knew, in the back of his mind, that she was manipulative and deceitful, and that it shouldn't surprise him that she wanted revenge, but it was a whole other thing to see her admit it to her face.

But Damon also saw something else in her eyes. When she had said that last sentence, he had seen pain. It was quick. So quick he would have missed it if he hadn't been looking directly at her, but he didn't. She was strong, but she knew pain. Whatever Klaus had done to her, it was more than just chase her around and take away her freedom. He had deeply hurt her.

"I'll help you bring Klaus down. We need him out of the way anyways, and I guess it would be to all of our best interests to work together to make that happen."

She started making her way back to him, smiling like she was plotting something. That seemed like it was the only way she knew how to smile. "Good." She said. She ran a finger down the front of his shirt and back up again. "Even if you're human, I think you will make a valuable ally."

She leaned up and kissed him, but this time he didn't stop her, instead, he kissed her back. "Wait." He said, quickly pulling back again before anything more could happen. "I won't let you use me for information anymore. So if that is what this is, you can leave right now."

Katherine glanced at the door for a second before kissing him with a renewed fervor.

******

"Bonnie, what is going on? What is he talking about? What did you just do?" Jeremy's question flew out of his mouth, one after the other.

Bonnie stood up the moment Klaus left the room, looking around for anything she could use as a weapon against him. There seemed to be nothing made of wood in the entire room. She cursed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"What are you looking for?" was Jeremy's next question. "And could you maybe help me out of these ropes?"

Bonnie finally looked at Jeremy. How could she have let this happen? Jeremy was innocent, but he was being used to keep Bonnie in check. "I'm looking for anything wood." She said, not totally with him, her brain still trying to figure a way out of her situation.

Jeremy looked confused. "Well, I don't know if it will work for whatever you need wood for, but I'm pretty sure the chair I'm _tied_ to is wood."

That caught Bonnie's attention. She rushed over to Jeremy, and began to untie him. "Jeremy, you're a genius. This is perfect."

Jeremy pulled loose from the ropes and stood up, rubbing his wrists where the ropes had been. "Uh, I am?"

Bonnie barely noticed Jeremy. She quickly picked up the chair he had been sitting in and slammed it against the ground. The chair shattered into pieces and she grabbed one of the legs, now with a pointy end where it had splintered from the chair. She smirked. It may not work for long, but it would do what she needed it to do. Take Klaus down long enough so that she and Jeremy could escape.

The door clicked open, sooner than she had been expecting, but Bonnie was ready anyways.

Klaus walked back in. "Bonnie, I need you to do that spell again. I need more-" He never finished his sentence as Bonnie drove the homemade stake into his stomach.

Jeremy gasped.

Klaus doubled over and started to turn grey. The veins around his eyes popped out and his eyes went wide, surprised that someone like Bonnie could take him by surprise.

Bonnie turned to Jeremy, who was staring, shocked, at the body on the ground in front of him. "Come on!" Bonnie grabbed his hand. She hated that she didn't have time to comfort him or explain exactly what was happening, but they needed to get out of there as fast as they could.

Jeremy snapped out of the trance he had been in ran out the door after with Bonnie.

******

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Elena asked Caroline again. The two of them stood in Caroline's room in front of the mirror. Caroline held up a new shirt up in front of her friend to see how it would look, but dropped it to her side when she heard Elena's question.

She sighed. "Of course I am. Look, Lexi said she would watch Max, so there's no problem there, and you and Stefan are back together, right?"

Elena shrugged and grabbed a new shirt from Caroline's closet. "Yeah, I guess, but I don't see how-"

"Then it's about time you two went on a date." Caroline interrupted, making a face at the shirt in Elena's hand. "And I mean a real date, not a, lets go try to rescue someone or stop an ancient curse date."

"But Caroline we need to research-"

"Research can wait." Replied Caroline, who was now digging around in her closet, looking for the perfect shirt. "It'll be there tomorrow for you to worry about. Anyways, that's all the more reason to do this. You need a break from the supernatural world for a night." Caroline turned around and handed Elena a shirt.

Elena grabbed it and held it up to the mirror. "Okay fine, I'll go on the date. But what about you? Can you control yourself around Matt?"

Caroline bit her lip. "Honestly Elena, I don't really know. But I figure, if I'm going to continue dating, I need to learn to control myself and better to do that when I'm with you and Stefan who can both pull me off him and compel him to forget anything if it comes to that."

Elena nodded, letting Caroline's words sink in. It did seem to make sense. "Well," She said after a moment, "If we are really going to go on this double date, we might as well find you something decent to wear as well."

Caroline smiled and headed back to her closet. The two friends took another half an hour to pick out their outfits before heading out to the grill. Matt was already there. He must have just finished a shift and was waiting for them in one of the booths at the back.

They headed over and Caroline threw a hopeful glance at Elena before sliding in next to her boyfriend. Stefan arrived a few minutes later.

They made small talk for a while and ordered dinner.

"So, Elena," Matt said after a lull in the conversation. "Where are you from exactly? I haven't seen you around town before."

Elena smiled "I was born here actually, but I moved away a long time ago. Family rivalries and all." More like the founding families chasing down all the vampires in town and forcing her to flee, but she thought she had better leave that part out. Anyways, what she had said wasn't all lies. There really had been and probably still were quite a few family rivalries.

Matt said, "So you are a Pierce, like the founding family Pierce?"

Elena nodded. "Yep."

"So why did you move back?" Matt asked

Elena shrugged. "I missed it. My life was getting too hectic and I needed to start over."

"That's when you meet me." Stefan jumped in, smiling at Elena.

She smiled back and gave him a kiss, but there was no passion. They may have said they were just starting over, but there was still something missing between them. "That's right." she said.

"Only after _I_ introduced you." Caroline said, never one to let someone else take all the credit.

"Of course you did." Matt said. He went to kiss Caroline but she pulled back and threw a frantic glance at Elena. Matt looked hurt, even though he tried to hide it. "What's wrong Caroline?"

"Nothing." She smiled and tried to laugh it off, but Elena could tell she was still shaken up. Caroline wasn't ready for him to kiss her. It could be too much of a temptation.

"Caroline!" Came a yell from the front of the Grill.

The group of four spun towards the sound, Caroline looking relieved for the distraction. Bonnie came running towards them with a confused, and slightly scared, Jeremy Gilbert behind her. The two newcomers rushed to the table.

"Caroline, I know what he wants and why he has taken so long to make a move. Caroline, Stefan and Elena glanced at each other, immediately understanding who Bonnie was talking about.

Matt, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. "Who wants what?" He turned to Jeremy. "What's she talking about?"

Jeremy didn't respond.

Caroline stood up and addressed Bonnie. "What do you mean? And where have you been all this time?"

Bonnie threw a glance at Matt. "I need to talk to you all alone. It's important."

Stefan and Elena stood up and Caroline turned around to Matt. She grabbed his face and looked straight into his eyes. "You will forget what just happened. You had a good night on a double date with me and Stefan and Elena and now you want to get straight home. Okay?"

Matt nodded and immediately headed towards the door.

Elena turned to Bonnie. "Tell us everything."


	6. December 19th 1917 (3):

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, so as promised, here is the next chapter. If you are American, have a happy Thanksgiving, and if not, I hope you have a great day anyways.
> 
> Sorry this chapter is so short, but when I wrote it I just couldn't figure out anything else that I wanted to happen. Anyway, enjoy!

December 19th 1917 (3):

"But Vampires don't exist." The policeman continued, still unable to accept the truth.

Elena shook her head. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but they do."

The front door to the bar swung open again. "What do you think you are doing?" said the new arrival.

Elena pulled back from her threatening position over the officer and turned toward the door, crossing her arms. "Who are you?" She said. In the doorway stood a girl, probably about as old as Elena appeared. She had straight blonde hair and a disposition about her that said _don't mess with me_.

The blond stepped in, glancing at the dead body of the first officer and then around at the rest of the customers, cowering in the corners. "You've turned it all off, haven't you?" she asked, more of a statement then a question.

Elena glared at her. "What do you know about it?"

The blonde seemed to find that funny. "More than you would think, actually. But it doesn't last. I mean, did you really think they wouldn't catch up with you?" she said.

Elena stepped forward. "Look, If you're talking about the police, don't worry. I was going to compel them to leave me alone."

The new girl nodded. "You could do that, but only one person at a time, and that won't be enough. I heard about you and your kills all the way from Florida. This is a problem you can't just compel your way out of."

Elena spread her arms, deciding to play along with whatever this girl wanted for the moment. "So what do you suggest I do?"

"I don't suggest _you_ do anything. I, however, am going to do this." In a flash the blonde zipped up behind Elena and snapped her neck.

There was a collective gasp from the audience and a few murmurs of _she killed her_ and _is she one too?_

"And to answer your first question," the blonde said to the limp body on the floor, "My name is Lexi Branson, and I am your worst nightmare."


	7. Trouble In Paradise

Bonnie slipped into the booth where Matt had been a moment earlier. Jeremy hesitated a second before grabbing a chair from a nearby table and sat down with the others. He had been kidnapped and threatened. He had seen Bonnie do something that looked an awful lot like magic, and then escaped after watching her stab their captor in the gut with a wooden chair leg. So, at the very least, he figured that he at least deserved an explanation.   
Elena and Caroline threw another glance at Jeremy but they seemed to decide that the reason for his being there was not the most important thing to discuss at the moment.   
“Where have you been Bonnie?” Caroline asked again, slightly frantic. “We’ve been really worried about you.”   
“Klaus had me.” Bonnie answered. The group seemed to grow even more solum, if that was possible. Bonnie turned to Jeremy. “And him.”   
Stefan spoke up. “Why did Klaus have Jeremy?” Jeremy couldn’t help but feel a little happier. Even after all this, Stefan, the junior who had always made sure he felt welcome, was the one who was worried about him.   
“For leverage.” Bonnie replied. “He made me do a spell for him. If I hadn’t, he would have hurt Jeremy. Or worse.” Jeremy knew that the man had been using him for leverage. Until this point, he was still holding on to the possibility of the “magic” he’d seen been a hoax. But no one else seemed phased. No one even raised an eyebrow at the word “spell”.   
“What spell did he need you to do?” Elena asked. Jeremy didn’t know Elena very well. He knew that she was new in town a few months ago, and her last name was Pierce. He figured maybe she was a long lost relative of the original founding family of Pierces. He also knew that she was dating Stefan, although from the look of it, their was something coming between them. They were both sitting a little too far away from each other to be an average, lovely couple, and Stefan hadn’t looked directly at her in at least a few minutes.   
Bonnie began to explain about the guy, Klaus, needing to talk to a dead person about another spell. She told them how he needed the blood of the doppelganger, and they started discussing how exactly they were going to keep a girl named Max safe.   
As the conversation progressed, Jeremy started to get a feel that Elena seemed to know the most about what was going on. She was the leader. Whatever was going on with Klaus, she knew him the best and she was worried.   
Finally, Jeremy had had enough. He was tired of listening to conversations that only half made sense.   
“Guys.” He said. The group all turned to him, as if they had forgotten he was there. Great. That made him feel so much better. “Is anyone going to explain to me what is going on? Who is Klaus? Why does he need this ‘doppelganger's’ blood? Why do none of you seemed phased by the mention of spells and magic?”   
The four of them looked around at the rest of the table, obviously debating whether or not to tell him anything.   
“Look.” Bonnie said. “He was kidnapped because of me, and he has already seen me do magic, as well as drive a stake into Klaus.”  
“We could always compel him to forget.” Caroline suggested. Jeremy wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘compel’ but he was pretty sure he didn’t want it done to him.   
“No. Bonnie’s right.” Stefan said, standing up for Jeremy as always. “I think he needs to know what’s really going on in this town.”   
“I’ll explain everything to him.” Bonnie volunteered. “We are pretty much done here anyway and I don’t think it would be a good idea for you three to be here when he learns what you are.” Jeremy could tell that Bonnie was trying not offend them or scare him, but she failed at both. What could she possibly mean _what_ they were?  
“Okay.” Elena said after a second. She looked over at Stefan and the two of them quickly got up from the booth. “I guess I’ll head over to the Boarding house with Stefan, check up on Max.”   
Bonnie stood up and motioned for Jeremy to do the same. He obeyed. The two of them headed towards the door, followed by Caroline who headed her own way as soon as they were outside.   
Bonnie pulled Jeremy towards her car, motioning him to get in.   
“Where are we going?” He asked, still not quite sure why Bonnie couldn’t just telling him what she was going to tell him in The Grill.   
“I’m taking you to my house. No one is home and we need a place where we can be sure not to be overheard.” She threw him a sympathetic glance. “Your world will never be the same again.”

\--------

Liz sat down next to Damon at the bar, throwing a quick glance at his drink. He turned to her, a questioning look on his face. “How can I help the best sheriff in the state today?”   
She smiled slightly. “Well, first you can buy me a drink.”   
He raised his eyebrows, but motioned the bartender over anyway. Once she had the drink in her hands, she turned back to him. “I need your opinion on something.”  
“Okay, shoot.” Damon said, before taking a drink.   
She lowered her voice. “It’s about the council.”   
He put his drink down and slowly turned towards the sheriff, suddenly much more interested than he had been seconds before. “What’s up?”   
“There’s been another murder.”   
“You mean,” Damon leaned in closer. They were now only a few inches apart. “A vampire murder?”   
She nodded. He pulled away, taking in the information. “And you want my opinion . . .”   
“Yes. Look, you seem to know quite a bit about vampires. Normally I would tell the council, but . . .”   
“But you don’t trust them.” Damon finished her sentence.   
“Not really. It’s John Gilbert.” Damon tried to remember the man. Damon had immediately disliked him. “I’ve never trusted him. He has too many hidden agendas and knows how to manipulate the council into doing whatever he wants. If he knew that there had been another murder, well, I’m just afraid of what he would do.”   
“So you’re telling me because you want me to give you advice on what to do about the murder?”   
She nodded. “You don’t seem the type to be easily manipulated and you know about all this stuff. I think you are the only one I trust right now.”   
Damon couldn’t help but think to himself. “Well. if there really is a vampire out there, and it is killing people then we need to stop it. Keep the people on vervain, and I’ll look into it. I might also be able to get some wooden stakes and then we can go on a vamp hunt. Don’t worry. We’ll catch it.”   
She finally gave him a real smile. “Thank you Damon. I knew I could count on you.”  
“No problem.”   
“Hey Damon?” she said, now in a less serious tone.  
“Yeah?”   
“I’m inviting a whole bunch of mine and Caroline’s friends to my house for dinner tomorrow. I was hoping you would come.” She handed him a piece of paper that looked like a formal invite.   
Damon took the paper and tucked it into his pocket. “Of course Liz.” He gave her one of his award winning smiles. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

\--------

Damon made his way back into his _own_ house, which seemed to be a fact that the majority of his acquaintances seemed to have forgotten, as they never seemed to leave. Elena, Caroline, Stefan, Max, and Lexi were all sitting around his living room, discussing something they probably thought was important, but stopped when he arrived.   
“Well don’t stop talking on my account.” He said.   
Elena was the one to speak up, as always. “We were just trying to figure out what we were going to do about Max, now that we know Klaus needs her blood to create new hybrids. He may not know that she is alive right now, but I don’t think it will be too long until he figures it out.”  
Max sighed and threw her hands up in the air. “I hate all this hiding. Why can’t we stand and fight?”  
Stefan turned to her. “You know why. We aren’t strong enough to take on Klaus.”  
“Not without help.” Katherine said from the doorway. Damon was surprised by how easily she had snuck up on the group of vampires with sensitive hearing. He guessed it was because of her age. She had been around long enough to perfect the art of sneaking up on people.   
Katherine walked up to the back of the couch next to him. His body stiffened. It was strange being so close to her, but not with her. He tried keep a straight expression, as if everything was normal. He didn’t want Elena or Stefan to know what had been going on with him and Katherine. Luckily, Elena didn’t seem to notice anything.   
“If you want to take on Klaus, you’ll need my help.” She said.   
Lexi stood up to face Katherine. “And why is that? Elena knows just as much as you about him.”   
Katherine shook her head. “While Elena spent the majority of the last fifty years running, I spent quite a long time trying to figure out a way to take him down. For good. Plus, he let me go. He won’t suspect me of trying to make a move against him now that he gave me my freedom.”  
There was a silence in the group. Finally Elena spoke up. “Fine.” She said. She seemed to hate this even more than she did letting her sister ‘join’ their group. She must have felt that she didn’t have any other choice.   
“What?” Stefan said. “You’re going to put your trust in Katherine? She’s already betrayed you once, and that resulted in my death!”  
“I believe her, Stefan.” Elena replied defensively. “She is my sister and, like she said, why would she betray us now?”   
This just seemed to upset Stefan even more. “I don’t know. Maybe because she is your evil twin and can’t be trusted?”  
“Look, you don’t know her like I do.” Elena continued. “I have known her for over one hundred years. She wants to help.”   
“I agree with Elena.” Damon found himself saying. He wasn’t sure why he was siding with Elena, but he did think his brother was being a bit ridiculous. And as much as he knew that Katherine was manipulative and a liar, he also believed her. She didn’t have any reason to betray them this time, and it didn’t seem to far of a stretch for Katherine to want revenge for whatever Klaus had done to her in the past.   
Stefan’s glare turned towards Damon. Damon realized that he had just pissed off his newly vampire brother. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of Stefan. Damon didn’t move. Stefan was standing in the middle of the room, his breathing heavy. Damon recognized the look in his eyes as filled with anger and self-hatred. “You what?” Stefan asked calmly, although it was obvious to everyone in the room just how mad he was.   
“I think Elena’s right.” Damon said, standing his ground despite the possible threat to his life. He glanced quickly at Elena, and then Katherine. “Katherine has no reason to betray us, and she is our best chance to take down Klaus, whether you like it or not.”  
Stefan was fuming now. “Damon. She is the reason I’m dead.”   
“Yeah. And now you are stronger than ever before. You’re a _vampire_ Stefan! That’s not a curse. That’s a gift. You get to live forever and you could probably kill me right now if you wanted too.”   
“Yeah.” Stefan said. “I could.”   
Elena stood up and tried to get between the brothers. Lexi and Max were watching from the side, trying to stay out of the way. Caroline’s anger was obviously only directed at Damon and Katherine seemed amused by the whole affair, as if it was some sort of circus act.   
“Stefan. Damon.” Elena said. Damon noticed how calming her voice sounded. How sure she was of her control over both of them. “Please.” she pleaded with them. The two brothers backed down. She turned to Stefan. “We need her. I trust her, but if she betrays us again, I’ll kill her myself.” She threw a glance at her sister, letting her know that she meant what she said.   
Katherine shrugged. “I want Klaus dead just as much as you.” She looked straight at Stefan. “And just for the record, I wasn’t the first sister to betray the other.”   
Stefan didn’t seem to know what to say to that. From the look on Elena’s face, Damon suspected that Katherine wasn’t lying. These two sisters definitely had a much more of a history then Damon knew.   
“What’s that?” Caroline asked. The whole group turned to her, wondering what she was talking about. The blonde was pointing to Damon’s pocket where the invite to dinner was sticking out.   
He pulled it out. “What, this?” he asked, confirming that it was what she was talking about. “This,” He said, thankful for the change of subject, “Is an invite to dinner at your house. Your mom said she was inviting a bunch of your friends and her friends, which includes me, over to dinner. She wants to get to know everyone better.”   
“Oh yeah,” Elena said, “I got one of those in the mail. I totally forgot about it until now.”   
“I got one too.” Stefan added.   
“So she’s really going through with that?” Caroline asked. “I was hoping that that idea would just die down, but I guess not.”   
Elena turned to Damon, a little confused. “You’re her friend?”   
Damon smiled. “I _do_ have a social life, despite what you might want to believe.”  
Elena rolled her eyes before turning to the rest of the group. “Well. I guess we should go. We don’t want the Sheriff to start asking hard questions about us.”   
_More then you think._ Damon added in his head. If Liz Forbes caught on to the fact that Elena was a vampire, that would be bad for all of them. Not to mention the fact that now, even her own daughter was one.   
As he looked around at his group of vampire friends, Damon remembered what the Sheriff had said about another vampire attack. He didn’t know if there was a new vamp in town or if one of them had done it, but he was starting to get his suspicions, and he didn’t like it.  
One thing was for sure. He was going to figure out who was attacking and killing those people. Their recklessness was putting the people he cared about at risk, and he was going to stop them.


	8. December 25 1920

December 25th 1920:  
Klaus had been using the _relive-and-destroy-old-memories_ torture for over three years and Katherine was tired of it. She had hoped that she would build up an immunity over time, learning to keep Klaus out of her head, or at least have enough control to remember that what she was seeing was just a dream, a manipulation.   
Katherine Pierce, however, was not that lucky. It was Christmas night and she clung to the hope that perhaps Klaus would take a break from the torture for one night, if only for the benefit of spending time with his beloved sister. But every year it was the same. Rebekah begged him to take a break for a day and Klaus refused.   
The door grinded open, making the familiar grind and click sound that Katherine had come to loath. It was the sound of the beginning of another _fun time with Klaus_ session.   
“How is my little vampire doing today?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I wonder what it must be like,” he said, “to be able to hear all the Christmas Time Cheer from your little cell down here, but not be able to participate.”   
Katherine rolled her eyes. “I actually find it quite annoying. What could they possibly have to be that cheerful about?”   
Klaus nodded, smiling. “I have no idea.”   
Rebekah appeared at the door. “Brother?” Klaus huffed with annoyance and turned to his sister. She continued, “Klaus, I will ask you every year to give this up. Only for one day. We are a family and it is Christmas.”   
“And I will tell you every year,” he replied, “that I will not take a break.” He turned back toward Katherine, a wicked smile on his face. “I am having too much fun.”   
Rebekah shook her head and pulled away from the door. “Fine. Have fun with your toy.”   
“Now.” Klaus said, his full attention back on Katherine. “What memory should we explore today?”   
He reached out and she shrank back, not wanting to have to go through his torture again. He rolled his eyes, quickly grabbing her hand before she could pull it away again and she was gone, back in time. The date was May 7th 1854. She was eight at the time.   
_“Kat! Kat come back here!”_ Called Elena as she ran after her twin sister. The girls’ laughter rang out across the courtyard. It had been perfect weather that day. The sun shown brightly in the sky, highlighting a puffy cloud here or there. The temperature was warm enough that they hadn’t needed coats. The birds chirped in the green trees and the newly planted flowers in the front lawn gave brilliant color to the scene.   
Katherine had always loved those flowers, despite the fact that they made both of the sisters sneeze like crazy.   
As Elena finally caught up Katherine felt her pull at her dress. _“I got you!”_ She said, excited that she had won the game. _“Now it’s your turn. You have to get me.”_ Katherine watched Elena take off in the other direction.   
Katherine barely hesitated a second before following after her sister. She couldn’t help but laughing. It was the type of day that even a gust of wind in your hair could make you feel like you were soaring.   
The two sisters played in their yard, yelling and giggling whenever one of them won. Katherine had never felt so free, so much at home. She was with her sister, who loved her, and they were playing childish games together.   
Suddenly there was a chill. It was much colder and sharper than the light breeze that had been blowing all day. Katherine felt her arms bristle with goosebumps and she gave an involuntary shiver. She started to panic as she watched her sister, still lighthearted, disappear around the corner of the house. A sinking feeling started to pull at Katherine’s gut. She broke into a full sprint.   
A blood curling scream rang through the air just as Katherine reached the corner and turned to see her twin sister, covered in blood. Klaus stood, the young Elena in his hands, his fangs out and the corners of his mouth dripping with her blood. Elena’s hands flew to her neck to hold the wound and she slowly turned around to face her sister. She looked scared and startled at first, but as Katherine watched, Elena’s face began to change. She grew angry and the veins on her face popped out. Her eyes were red and when she opened her mouth to talk, she now had fangs.   
_“You did this to me.”_ she said, her voice no longer full of laughter and delight, but hatred and despair. It didn’t seem right to Katherine. To see this sight of such a young innocent face angry and distorted by   
Katherine shook her head. _“No. I didn’t mean to.”_  
Eight year old Elena took a firm step towards Katherine, lifting a steady finger to point at her. _“You dragged me into this world and then you let me die and become a monster.”_  
 _“No, Elena, Please.”_ Katherine felt a tear run down her face. _“I never wanted this for you. I was selfish with Elijah and because of it you . . .”_ She couldn’t even finish her sentence. She fell to the ground, crushed with the weight of her guilt, trying to get her bearings on what was reality and what was a dream.   
Her eyes flew open and she was meet with the face of a very amused Klaus. She pulled back her hand and slapped him as hard as she could before leaning back and facing the wall, blinking rapidly to keep her tears at bay.   
“Looks like my work for today is done.” he said, standing up and heading to the door. “Merry Christmas, Katherine.”


	9. A Forbes Dinner

Jeremy’s head was reeling. It was hard to take in anything Bonnie had just told him. It was all too much. The mere fact that magic was real was hard to comprehend, let alone the fact that Stefan and Elena were vampires, and she was a practicing witch.   
He had known that Stefan had been acting a little strange the past few weeks, but he had assumed it was just because he was with Elena. He probably still wouldn’t have believed any of it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.   
_Your world will never be the same again_ Bonnie had said. She couldn’t have been more right. Jeremy could never look at the world the same way as he did before, not now that he knew what was out there.   
“So what does it mean, exactly?” He asked her.   
She furrowed her brows, not understanding his question. “What does what mean?” she asked.   
“What does it mean, that you’re a witch?”  
“It means that I can do magic.” She answered simply.   
“What, like Harry Potter?”   
She grinned and shook her head. “No. Real witches don’t use wands, we use grimoires, which is a kind of spell book. And our spells are a lot more complicated.”  
Jeremy nodded. “So, why did that guy kidnap us?”  
“You mean Klaus?” Bonnie said. “He wanted me to do a spell for him. A spell to let him talk to his dead mother.”  
“Then why did he need me?”   
Bonnie hesitated before answering. “He knew I wouldn’t do the spell for him just because he asked. He’s not a good guy. So he kidnapped you to use as leverage. If I hadn’t done as he asked, he would have killed you.”  
Jeremy didn’t say anything for another moment, thinking about what she had said. “So what now?” he finally asked.   
“Now,” She said, “We wait. Klaus got the information that he wanted. He probably already knows that Max is still alive. And now that he knows he needs her, he is going to make a move to get her. We have to do everything we can to protect her.”  
“Right. So who is Max again?”   
“Elena’s doppelganger.” Bonnie said. “Because Elena and Katherine are twins, it makes sense that they look identical, but Max was born in this century. She isn’t, or I guess wasn’t, a vampire, but somehow, she looks exactly like them.”   
Jeremy sighed and sat down on Bonnie’s bed. “So there’s nothing we can do? We are just going to sit here and wait?”   
“We don’t really have another choice.” Said Bonnie, copying Jeremy’s actions. “Klaus is too powerful. And on the off chance that he doesn’t know Max is still alive, we don’t want to give it away that she is.”   
Jeremy threw up his hands. “Well, there must be something we can do!”  
“There’s nothing. And, even if there was, I don’t have enough control over my magic to do anything big.”  
“Is there a way to get more control? More power?” Jeremy asked. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to help her out so much. Maybe it was because she had saved his life, or because she was working with Stefan, one of his only friends. Whatever the reason, he wanted to help. That he did know for sure.   
“Well . . .” Bonnie said, hesitating. “There is something . . .”   
Jeremy slid closer. “What? What is it?”   
“It’s called channeling.” She said. “I can channel power from another magical object, or natural things like fire, or another person. It would give me more control and more power. I would be able to do more to help.”  
“Could you channel me?” Jeremy asked, excited to finally be able to help.   
Bonnie nodded.   
Jeremy grabbed her hand and nodded. “Do it.” 

\---------

Damon groaned. Today was the day he would have to go to Liz Forbes’ friends dinner. He wasn’t big on that kind of stuff, but he wanted to keep in the sheriff's good graces and stay on the council.   
He walked towards the table where he kept his alcohol and pulled out a glass. When he went to pour more, he found that the last bottle of bourbon was empty. He sighed and headed downstairs to get a new bottle.   
He was busy shaking his head over his stupidity at not restocking the cabinet, when he smelt it. There was a foul smell coming from one of the old cells. Something seemed to be rotting. He grimaced and continued walking to the door. Grabbing the handle, he pulled the door open and was meet with a sight that he wouldn’t soon forget.   
“Well,” he said to himself. “This is _really_ not good.” 

\------

Elena stepped up and knocked on the front door of the Forbes house. She turned and gave an awkward smile to Stefan who was standing next to her while they waited to be let in.   
Liz opened the door and greeted them with a huge smile on her face. “Elena, Stefan. Thanks for coming. Come on in. Bonnie and Damon are already here.”   
They nodded politely and headed inside towards the living room where Bonnie and Caroline were laughing about something and Damon sat along, a drink already in his hand.   
Caroline lit up when she saw Stefan and Elena and quickly pulled them over to where she had been sitting. “I’m so glad you guys are here. I don’t think I could sit through an entire dinner with my mom and her friends if you weren’t here too.”   
Elena nodded in understanding. “We couldn’t just leave you stranded, now could we?” Caroline laughed.   
Stefan turned to Liz. “Mrs. Forbes, how many more people do you have coming?”   
“Oh not much.” She said, waving away his question. “Just Alaric and -” she was cut off by the sound of knocking at the front door. “That’s probably him now.” She rushed away, returning a moment later with Alaric in tow. Damon and Alaric nodded at each other in greeting before Alaric gave an awkward, “Hi” to the rest of the group. There was a chorus of “hi”s in return.   
“Well,” Liz said, “Most of us are here, why don’t we all sit down for dinner?” A few people nodded. “Okay then, come on into the dining room.”   
Before long, everyone was all sitting down at the table, enjoying the wonderful meal that Liz had cooked, and making small talk.   
“So Liz,” Alaric said, “Have you made any progress on the missing persons?” Elena snapped to attention. She knew that there had been a few more missing persons cases and that Liz was the Sheriff, which meant that she was investigating them. Elena, however, suspected another vampire, and she knew that Alaric probably did as well. Why would he ask such a blatantly obvious question? Asking too many questions about the disappearances could be dangerous. However, she was curious and eager to her the Sheriff’s answer.   
“Not really.” Liz replied, throwing a glance at Damon. “The victims didn’t have much in common and they have gone missing from all over town. We really don’t have any leads.”   
There was a knock on the door. “I’ll get that.” Liz said, standing up and walking over to the front door.   
The moment Liz was out of sight Elena gave Alaric a light punch in the arm. “What were you thinking? Asking about the disappearances?”   
“Hey! I just thought it might be helpful to see what the Sheriff knows. She might have information that would mean nothing to her, but could tell us who it is.”  
“Wait.” Caroline said, “You think the disappearances are because of a vampire?”   
Elena barely had time to nod before Liz arrived back in the dining room with the final guest.   
Elena was shocked. She wasn’t expecting to see his face in such a mundane setting, but there he was.   
“Hello.” He said. “I’m Elijah Mikaelson, a friend of Liz’s.”   
The whole table had grown silent. Most of them recognized him from the ritual, except for Bonnie, although she seemed to pick it up that something was wrong pretty easily. The entire table was now on high alert.   
“I meet Elijah at the Grill,” Liz was saying, “and I thought it would be nice for him to meet you all. That’s why I had this dinner.” They both sat down, and Elijah noticed the fact that no one was eating.   
“Well, don’t stop eating on my account.” He said.   
Elena continued to stare at him as she forked a piece of broccoli and shoved it into her mouth. Around the table, the others did the same.   
“So Elijah,” Damon said, breaking the silence, “What are you doing here in Mystic Falls?”   
“Oh I’m here on business.” Elijah immediately. “I need to collect an asset for my brother. You see, we are in business together.”   
“Oh really?” Damon said, knowing there was a double meaning in Elijah’s words. “What kind of asset?”   
Elijah glanced in Elena’s direction and smiled. “Oh I think you know what kind, Mr. Salvatore. It used to be in my possession, but then someone stole it from me.”   
He knew. He knew that Max was alive and that they had her. That was why he had glanced at Elena when he had said that. Elena spoke up. “And what will happen if you don’t get it?”   
Elijah squinted, as if it was amusing to him to watch them squirm. “I would not think that would be a very desirable situation for anyone.” He took another bite of his food. “Mmm. I apologise, Mrs. Forbes. I am quite hungry.”   
Caroline threw Stefan and Elena a glance. Elijah wasn’t referring to food.   
“No, it’s fine.” Liz replied, totally clueless to the fact that she was practically being threatened by a thousand year old vampire.   
“You know, I never got a drink.” Elijah said to Liz. “Would you mind getting me a water?”   
She got up immediately. “Of course.”   
The moment she left the room, Elena pounced on him. “What do you want?”   
“Haven’t I made it obvious? I want that little doppelganger you are keeping locked away. And if you refuse, I will kill every single person that you care about.”   
Liz walked back in the room, carrying his water.   
“Here you go, Mr. Mikaelson.”   
“Please.” he said. “Call me Elijah.” 

\-------

“Well, that went wonderfully.” Caroline said, plopping into one of the sofas at in the Salvatore's living room. How had she gotten herself mixed up in this mess again?  
“Yeah.” Said Alaric. “What are we going to do? We can’t just give Max up.”   
“No.” Stefan replied. “But we can’t just let him kill everyone either. Right?”  
“No. He threatened my mom.” Caroline said. “We can’t let him get away with that.”   
“Maybe I could do a spell.” Bonnie suggested. “I have more power now that I can channel Jeremy.”   
“But what kind of spell?” Caroline asked.   
“I don’t know.” Alaric said. “Elena, what do you think?” They looked around the room. Elena wasn’t there. “Where’s Elena?” Alaric asked.   
Stefan looked around again, growing more and more worried. “Where is Damon?”   
The four of them looked at each other, realization growing in their eyes.   
Caroline was the one to speak up. “They’re not here.”


	10. March 7th 1921

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody! I hope you all have a great 2015. It's been killing me that TVD doesn't come back on for another two weeks, but it has been nice to be able to write about all my fav characters, so that helps.
> 
> I wrote this chapter a while ago and it has really helped me get a good grip on what Katherine and Elena's motives in life are and understand better why they both hate each other so much. It's been really fun to create this new dynamic between the two of them as sisters and I think this chapter really captures their entire relationship well. Also, I thing that was just the most fun for me to write, so that helped.
> 
> To all you delena fans, don't you worry. Not long now.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter.

March 7th 1921:

Elena sat up in her chair as the door to her cell swung open, letting in some of the only light she ever got in that dark room. "It's never going to work, Lexi," she taunted. "You've been trying to get me to get me to turn my emotions back on for over a year now. When are you going to realize that it is going to take a lot more than physical torture?"

Lexi crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. "You're right. You really don't want to crack. You're obviously not going to let love back in first, and your hate for me is still not strong enough yet to get you turn your emotions back on." She pushed off the door frame and walked over to Elena, crouching down to look at Elena's face. "So, I have to figure out who you _do_ hate enough."

Elena tried to pull away, but it didn't work. The chains holding her to the chair were to strong. Lexi grabbed Elena's hands and closed her eyes, concentrating on finding the perfect memory.

Both girls were whisked away into Elena's mind, into her memories. Elena knew the exact date as soon as she saw the scene. It was July tenth, 1878, fourteen years after she had turned. She had settled in a small town and had begun to build a life for herself. The people were nice and by that point, she had been there for quite a few years. She had made friends, and enemies, and she had just started to think of the town as home.

She sat on the back porch of the house that a nice couple had offered for her to stay at for as long as she needed. Beside her sat a boy. He was around seventeen years old. They sat side by side, silent, their legs swing back and forth from in front of them to under the porch and back out again. The sun set as the two teenagers, at least in appearance, sat next to each other, taking in the beautiful sight. Neither one of them said anything, not wanting to ruin the moment.

The boy slowly reached out and put his hand on top of Elena's , where it was resting on the porch. She looked down at their hands and then turned her hand over and took his, intertwining their fingers. He looked up, slightly startled that she had actually taken his hand and she couldn't help but smile. His face was perfectly outlined in the light of the setting sun, giving him a heavenly glow. She studied the lines in his face and the way that his curly hair just never wanted to stay behind his ears. He stared back at her so she began to studied his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of green on a normal day, but in the light of the sunset they looked like a glowing gold.

She leaned forward toward him as he copied the action until they so close that she could see every faint freckle on his face. At the same time, they closed the distance between them. She could feel his lips on hers, soft and gentle. It was everything she had hoped for and more.

Elena had never told anyone about this memory. It was sacred. It was magical. It had been her first kiss. When she had been human, she had been quieter and she kept to herself. Sure, there had been boys who had come calling, but she never loved them. When she turned, she spent the first few years of her eternity running, afraid to settle down or make any attachments because of Klaus. But in that little town in Southeastern Pennsylvania, she had had let herself grow attached. She knew it was probably a bad idea, but after years of running she was tired, so she stayed.

However, when you stay, you begin to care for the people you meet, the ones who have taken you under their wings, even if they didn't know that you are actually older than them. That's what happened. Elena got to know the town and the people and soon she had fallen in love with a boy who would kiss her at sunset on the back porch of the home where she had been living.

It was a beautiful moment, but as such moments always do, it came to an end. They pulled apart, still staring into the other's eyes.

_"That was . . ."_ Elena had struggled for the right words.

_"Stupid."_ came the reply from the brunette standing at the side of the house.

The two teenagers on the porch turned toward the speaker, and the moment Elena saw her, she sat up straighter, suddenly on guard. _"Katherine. What are you doing here?"_

Katherine stepped toward the two of them. _"I came to warn you, Elena."_

Elena glared at her twin. _"Why would you warn me about anything? I can take care of myself. You made sure of that."_ Elena put as much hate in between the lines of her words as she could.

_"What's going on here Elena?"_ The boy asked. _"How come you never told me you have a twin?"_

Elena glanced at him and then back at her sister, standing up to put herself between the two. No matter what happened, she didn't want him to get hurt.

_"Elena,"_ Katherine tried to explain. _"I heard a rumor that he has learned your whereabouts. You are no longer safe here. You need to leave."_

Elena shook her head. _"I'm tired of running, Katherine. I'm not leaving."_ Elena knew that her sister would never understand, but she tried to explain herself anyway. _"If he comes, he can take me. But if I run, he'll kill everyone I care about."_

Katherine scoffed. _"Are you really going to give up your life for a bunch of humans?"_

Elena glanced down at the boy again, hating the confused and betrayed look on his face, but enchanted by the fact that he still looked beautiful, even when he had no idea what was happening.

Katherine squinted, noticing the exchange between her sister and the boy. _"No."_ She said. _"You don't really think you are in love with this boy!" Elena didn't need to answer, her look of determination gave away her answer. Katherine rolled her eyes. "So that is why you won't leave."_

Elena advanced toward her sister. _"Katherine, you need to leave now."_ She gritted her teeth, and added another line, trying to keep up appearances, _"Thank you for the warning."_

Katherine shook her head. _"I can't let you get yourself killed. If it's this boy that is keeping you here, then I'll do you a favor."_

Before Elena had any time to react, Katherine had speed over to the boy and snapped his neck. His body fell to the side, laying on the porch as if he was sleeping.

Elena felt her heart break and hatred rushed into. She was back in her cell with Lexi, but she barely even noticed. All she cared about was Katherine. Her sister. The sister who had tricked her into turning. The sister who had abandoned her to fend for herself for years, running from Klaus. The sister who had killed her first love, the first boy she had ever kissed. The sister who killed people for pleasure. The sister whose love for a man was greater than her love for her own sister which resulted in her own capture and Elena turning off her emotions. Elena Pierce hated Katherine Pierce with her whole being.


	11. Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all my lovely followers. So, I as wrong last week, now we have two more weeks to wait for the rest of season 6.
> 
> I have been pretty busy with school starting back up and rehearsals for my school musical, so I hardly had any times to write this chapter, but somehow I got it done in time for all of you. I hope you like it!

Elena took in a deep breath as if she hadn't been breathing for a while. She let it fill her lungs and took pleasure in the simple act of breathing. After a moment, she scanned her surroundings.

She was in a car, low to the road, so it wasn't any type of minivan. The road in front of her was two lane and straight, pretty empty. Out the window to her right were fields and fields of crops, flying by.

But the real kick, was the driver. "Morning sunshine." Damon said with a stupid smirk on his face while throwing her a glance.

Elena sat up. How had she gotten here? She could remember the dinner at the Forbes, Elijah threatening to kill Caroline's mom and him demanding Max. She remembered the dinner ending and heading out to her car. And then Damon had called her name and she turned around and . . . nothing. The next thing she remembered was waking up in this car.

"What did you do, Damon?" she said frantically, sitting up in her chair.

"I killed you." He answered nonchalantly.

She grinned her teeth. "You what?"

He glanced over at her again. "Killed you. Snapped your neck. But it's fine, I knew you would come back."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but the anger kept burning inside her. "And _why_ did you deem it necessary to kill me?"

He shrugged, not even taking his eyes off the road this time. "I didn't think you would want to come on your own accord."

This statement made her realize that she had no idea where she was. "Come where? Where are we going?"

"The Duke Campus." he replied.

"Why?"

"Research."

She rolled her eyes at his vague, quick answers. "What are we going to research?"

"Werewolves, vampires, the original family, doppelgangers, anything else we may need to know about in the future."

"Right. Of course." She said, crossing her arms. She glanced out the window for a moment, watching the tall stalks of corn fly by, before she came up with another question. "So why did you need me to come along?"

This made him pause. So she wasn't going to get a two syllable, vague answer this time. He turned to face her. "Because, you aren't the worst company in the world, Elena." She rolled her eyes, facing out her window again. It may not have been two syllables, but it was still vague.

******

Caroline looked around at the sea of students flowing through the hallway. How could they continue about their day as if nothing was wrong, as if her best friend and a friendly acquaintance were not missing?

Caroline and the others had searched the on all night. They had tried Elena and Damon's cells and even resorted to asking random strangers if they had seen their friends. They had had no luck. It seemed as if the two of them had dropped off the face of the Earth.

Students walked around her as she slowly made her way towards her locker. She was exhausted from the long night of searching and hated the fact that she had to go to school. She didn't want to be sitting in a classroom all day, she wanted to be doing _something_.

"Hey, Care." Matt said, startling Caroline out of her thoughts. "What's up?"

"Oh, hey Matt." She responded, deciding to ignore his question. She didn't feel like making up some lie about how she was fine and dandy. She reached into her locker, absentmindedly grabbing her textbooks for class.

Matt leaned against the lockers next to hers. "You've been avoiding me." It wasn't a question.

She shook her head. "No I haven't."

"Yes." He side, not letting her off easy. "You have."

She stopped fidgeting with her books and looked up at him. "Look Matt. You're right. It's just, I've been dealing with some stuff lately, and it's been a long night and I'm sort of really worried about something, so could we please not do this right now?"

"Why won't you tell me anything?" Matt asked, growing annoyed.

Caroline looked towards the ground. She hated having to shut Matt out and lying to him, but she would hate it even more if he were to find out what she really was and looked at her like a monster. "I do tell you stuff." She said, desperate to find a way out of the conversation.

"Not anything important." Matt replied. "You're right Care, you have been going through something. I've noticed because you hardly talk to me anymore. And when you do, you act differently, distracted. I want to be there for you while you go through whatever this is, but you just keep pushing me away."

Caroline didn't respond. She knew he was right. Her new life as a vampire had forced her to drive him away. "I know." She said. It was probably best that she give in. She didn't want to lose him for good. "Matt, you're right. I _have_ been pushing you away. But I'll change now. I'll be better. I'll see you more. Please, give me another chance."

Matt narrowed his eyes and Caroline knew he was trying to decide whether or not to believe her. Finally he answered, "Okay. I'll give you another chance."

******

Stefan arrived home. He knew he shouldn't hope that his brother would be home, but he couldn't help it. He was worried about Damon. "Hello?" hey called into his house.

There was no answer at first, but after a moment, a female voice echoed through the house. "Hello Stefan."

He quickly stepped into the living room. "Elena?" He asked hopefully. If she was home, then Damon was probably home and they were both safe.

The girl stepped into the room. "Not Elena. Sorry to disappoint." Stefan sighed in frustration as his heart sank. "Although, I've heard my twin is missing?" she continued. "Is that true?"

"Yes. Do you know where they went?"

"No. My sister hates me, remember?" Katherine replied snarkily.

"Yeah, I remember. And Damon didn't tell you anything?" Stefan said. He knew that perhaps he was showing his hand prematurely, but he had suspected that there was something going on between his brother and Katherine for a little while.

She smiled slightly and began walking towards him. "Now why would you ask that?"

"I was just wondering if you and my brother were . . ." Stefan searched for the right word, "friends."

She reached him and caressed his face. "Why would I chose your bother when you are so much better?"

Stefan didn't know what to say. He knew he should slap away her hand, but she looked so much like Elena . . .

No. He finally snapped himself out of it and stepped past her. "Why are you here?"

She turned around to face him, now annoyed. "I thought we were going to come up with a plan to defeat Klaus."

"Well, Elena and Damon are missing at the moment, so your plan for revenge is going to have to wait."

She sighed. "Ugh, Elena this, Elena that. Why does no one care about me?"

"Because," Stefan said, "You are selfish and manipulative. That doesn't win you very many friends."

"At least I survive." She snapped. Stefan didn't respond. Finally, she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Fine." She plopped down on the couch. "I'll wait till you find your precious Elena before we make the plan."

******

"How long do you plan on keeping me here?" Elena asked as she sat down on the edge of the motel bed.

Damon rolled his eyes. "You're not a prisoner."

"You kidnapped me, took my cell phone so I couldn't call home, forced me to help you research anything and everything that could even remotely prove useful in our situation, and now we are stopping for the night at a motel? That sounds like a prisoner to me."

"Well," Damon began, jumping on the other bed and crossing his legs. "You're not a prisoner."

"Then what am I?" she asked, half teasing him, although she _was_ upset he wouldn't let her call Stefan.

"You're . . ." Damon thought for a moment. "You're my research assistant."

Elena tried to hide her smile at his pathetic reply. Instead, she put on her best unimpressed face. "Your research assistant?"

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. By the time she came back out, Damon seemed to be out cold. She headed over to her bed and pulled the covers up before reaching up to turn off the light.

"Elena?" Apparently he wasn't as asleep as she thought.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Why don't you and Katherine get along?"

Elena sucked in a breath. It was a big question, but she figured she was going to have to tell the story anyway. She rolled over to face him across the aisle between the beds. He watched her, curious.

"It was a few years after I was turned." She began. She told him the story of how she had meet a boy and they had fallen quickly in love. She told him about that night watching the sunset and the magical first kiss. Damon listened to every word, fascinated. She explained how Katherine had showed up with warnings about Klaus and how she had told her sister that she wanted to stay. "Katherine figured out that I wanted to stay because of him and so she . . ." Elena couldn't continue. She realized that tears had sprung to her eyes and as she blinked, one rolled down her cheek.

Immediately, Damon threw the covers off of himself and sat next to her in her bed, holding her head in his hands. He wiped the tears off her face and stroked her hair. It was clear from her tears how the story ended.

She hadn't known how much telling that story would affect her. It had been over 100 years, but as she had talked, all her old feelings of love and hatred came back to her. As she lay there crying, she realized that she had never told that story to anyone before, not even to Lexi. It was too personal. Too raw. Even after a century.

Damon never moved. He held her and comforted her as she cried. She never protested. She felt comfortable and safe in his arms. She breathed in his scent as she cuddled his chest. There was no place she would have rather been in that moment.

By the time her tears finally slowed, they had slid down into her bed. She looked up from her pillow into his eyes and saw nothing but affection. They laid there, staring at each other, both their heads on pillows for an indefinite amount of time.

"Elena." Damon whispered eventually.

"Yes Damon?" She whispered back.

There was another moment before he answered. "I love you."

All at once, Elena couldn't breathe. Those were three words she was never expecting to hear him say. Not to her. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Her head was reeling. She was in total shock.

"Say something." He said. His eyes darted back and forth between hers, no doubt trying to figure out her reaction.

She sat up and pulled her hair behind her ear. "Damon," she finally found her voice. "I'm with Stefan."

Damon seemed to deflate, but he nodded. "I know."

She quickly tried to comfort him. "I just, I can't do that to him. He's your brother."

"I know."

"Damon, I-"

He cut her off. "Do you know what he's been up to?"

Elena pulled back at his suddenly accusing tone. "What do you mean?"

Damon shook his head. "You know all those murders and missing persons? The ones that were probably another vampire, not just some 'wild animal'?"

Elena couldn't see where Damon was going with this. "Yeah. What do they have to do with Stefan?"

"I think he is the one doing it."

Elena wondered if she had heard Damon correctly. "What?"

"The other day, I ran out of bourbon, so I went down to the cellar to get some more and I smelled something funky down there, so I went to check it out and . . . our cellar is stuffed full of dead bodies. Rotting corpses. They've all got bit marks on their necks.

Elena stood up. Trying to put the pieces together. "You think Stefan has been feeding on people and then bringing them to your cellar?"

Damon shrugged, frustrated. "Look Elena. Don't know what to think. But something's wrong and I thought you should know."

Elena nodded, but she was only half paying attention. Was it possible that Stefan was really killing people like that? She didn't want to believe it, but the pieces seemed to fit.


	12. March 12 1921

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that last chapter. I was so glad I finally found a chance to write a DE road trip.
> 
> Massive thank you to my amazing beta, juxtaposed92 over on ff.net. She really is wonderful and extremely helpful.
> 
> I love all you guys. I can't believe people are actually reading this extremely long story and sticking with me, so thank you.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

March 12th 1921:

Katherine didn't struggle anymore. Klaus came in, took hold of her hand, and took her back into the past. She should have been used to it by now, but every time he came up with a new way to mess with her head.

This time she went back to the day that would forever change her sister's life. It was almost midnight on August 25th, 1864. It had been the night of the council's roundup. Katherine had run to warn Elijah, but he was gone, so she did her best to disappear as well. However, as a new vampire, in a town full of vampire hunters trying to round up as many as they could find with a compass that pointed toward the nearest one, dissapearing was harder than it sounded.

Katherine ran. She didn't know exactly where she was running, except that it was away from that town. She found herself watching out of the corner of her eyes as Mr. Gilbert took Pearl away. She continued running.

Before long she was in the woods. Someone called out. Normally, she wouldn't have been able to hear them from her distance. Her new supernatural hearing changed that. _"Over here!"_ they yelled. _"It's Katherine Pierce, she is one of them!"_

She put on another burst of speed and tried to lose them in the forest. A shot rang out behind her, but she didn't feel any pain. She looked down at her body and couldn't find any blood. It hadn't hit her. Then she heard a thud. It was the sound of a body falling to the ground.

_"I hit her!"_ One of them yelled. Katherine barely noticed. She was at the body in a second. It was Elena. Of course it was Elena, they had thought it was her. Katherine felt for a pulse, even though she already knew there was no heartbeat.

_"No, Elena. I'm so sorry. It's my fault. They thought you were me."_ Katherine shook with guilt and fear. Her brain barely registered the footfalls as they came closer to collect her body. They meant to put Elena into the church and burn her alive.

_"What the . . ."_ said the two men when they reached where Elena had fallen and saw Katherine standing over her dead body.

She slowly stood up and turned to face the two men from the council who had shot her sister, sealing her fate as a vampire. She felt her fangs grow out and the veins protrude on her face. She hissed as she leapt at the two men, not bothering to drink their blood, they were probably on vervain anyway. She plunged her hands straight into their chests and ripped out their hearts.

She turned back towards Elena's body and lifted began dragging her body away from the sight where she had died. Katherine didn't want anyone finding her before she woke up. When she got Elena to a satisfactory distance from her death sight, Katherine put her down, looked around, and ran.

Suddenly there was a figure standing in front of her. _This isn't right_ , Katherine found herself thinking.

_"So you turned her into one of us, and then you left her."_ The man in the shadows stepped forward.

_"Klaus."_ She said, her memories coming back to her. How she was actually locked up in a cell with him digging through her memories.

He gestured around to the trees and dark of night. _"I didn't even have to change anything in this memory."_ He walked toward her. _"You got her killed and then left her all by yourself."_

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the cell she knew she was actually in. When she opened her eyes again, she was an inch away from Klaus's face and sitting in an extremely uncomfortable position on the floor.

She didn't let her face show any emotion except hate. She watched him as he got back up, smiling. "It's been a good day today, don't you think, Katherine?"

She didn't even give him the dignity of an answer.


	13. The Founder's Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Greetings. Happy new TVD day! How are you guys liking this season?
> 
> IMPORTANT - While I was writing this chapter, I realized I had to tweak a few things from some previous chapters to make the plot work. I have already gone back and updated it, but all you need to know is that Klaus doesn't know that he needs the doppelganger's blood to sire hybrids (Which still wouldn't have worked with Max anyway because now she's a vamp but that's beside the point) instead, he thinks that he needs to finish what he started and kill the doppelganger in order for it to work.
> 
> The last 3 present-day chapters (this one and 2 more) in this book took/are taking me forever to plan and write. They have the most complicated plots I've written yet and I'm really trying to get it all just right. I'm really excited for where this story is headed.
> 
> As you probably already know, this is the longest story I've ever written, both fanfiction wise and original. I'm really enjoying creating my own plots and having my fav characters interact in ways I've never seen in the show. I think there are going to be two more "book"s after this one, unless I get a really good idea from season 6 and have to write it in.
> 
> You're welcome to leave a comment. You're feedback is what keeps me going. Now, enough from me, ENJOY!

It had been a day since Elena and Damon had arrived back in their small hometown of Mystic Falls. Caroline had freaked at them initially, upset that neither had bothered to call and let the rest of them know they were fine. When she had finally calmed down enough, the duo were finally able to tell the others where they had been. They explained how they had gone to do some research at the Duke campus and Damon had thought it would be a good idea to turn off their cell phones so as not to get distracted.

"We must have forgotten to turn them back on when we got to the hotel." Damon said, finishing his tale.

Caroline's eyes flew to Elena who seemed to be hiding a smile as she listened to Damon. _Weird._

"So." Stefan stepped forward. "Why did you have to bring Elena with you?"

Damon hesitated a moment, throwing a glance at Elena. He said, "She was assisting me with my research."

That was when Caroline thought she saw her friend give a small head-shake, as if she was laughing at a private joke. She squinted her eyes. No one else seemed to notice, so Caroline shook her head. Maybe she was imagining things.

Now it was Katherine that spoke up. "And?" she asked, addressing the question to Damon.

"And what?" Damon replied.

Katherine rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to the eldest Salvatore. " _And_ what did you find? Did you learning of anything new and helpful? Something we could use to take down Klaus?"

Elena stepped towards her sister. "Katherine, we searched for hours and hours. The whole day, actually, and we couldn't find anything even remotely helpful."

Katherine directed a fake smile at her sister. "Great. So that was another two days wasted." She turned towards Stefan. "I hope this whole 'being patient' thing works, 'cuz right now, it's not looking so good."

At that second, the front door to the Salvatore house flew open.

"Guys I think we found something!" Bonnie exclaimed, looking around at the rest of the group. Jeremy followed her in, looking equally as excited.

Elena turned to the witch. "Bonnie, what is it?"

Bonnie glanced at Jeremy before answering. "Me and Jeremy were looking through some of my family's old grimoires and we came across a spell I think we can use against Klaus."

This news did the trick. Evernone was sitting up in their seats, eager to hear what Bonnie was thinking. Caroline noticed Lexi and Max come down the stairs, probably having heard the commotion from her room.

As Bonnie explained the spell, Caroline grew more and more confident. It seemed like it would work. The rest of the gang began throwing out suggestions, what they could do to help. Soon, each person had a role, except Max. She wanted to help, but Elena quickly shut down that idea.

"It's too dangerous." Elena said, with a voice of finality. "If Klaus gets his hands on you, he'll kill you. You're not risking it."

Max shut up pretty quickly after that. It almost seemed out of character. She would normally have argued a lot more.

Caroline tried to shrug it off. Maybe it was a doppelganger thing. Both Max and Elena acting strange.

The group put the final touches on their plan. It would happen at the Founders Ball Mrs. Lockwood had decided to hold. While the majority of the town would be dancing around the floor in gorgeous ball gowns, they would be enacting a plan to take down a hybrid.

******

Liz grabbed Damon's arm and pulled him into the secret council meeting. Every time anyone on the founding families did anything like a party or town gathering, it was really just an excuse to meet as the council and discuss what to do about the town's vampire problem.

Damon let her lead him to a seat as the mayor walked up to the front and addressed the council. "Fellow council members. By now, I'm sure you've all heard of the, so called, animal attacks and missing persons."

Damon glanced over at Liz, who had sat down next to him. They had both been hoping to keep this between the two of them for at least a little longer. They didn't want the council to do anything stupid under the influence of John Gilbert. But it seemed that that was now out of their control.

"Well, as I'm sure you've all guessed," Mayor Lockwood continued, "They were not _actually_ animal attacks. We have reason to believe that there is a rogue vampire in our town and we need to figure out who it is and kill it."

Damon kept his poker face on, but was internally thinking frantically. He was pretty sure he knew what vampire was doing this and that that vampire was his brother. But even if Stefan was the one behind the attacks, he didn't want him dead. If the council found out about any of Damon's friends, they were in trouble. Even more trouble than they were already in with Klaus.

"I think we need to plan a round up." John Gilbert said, standing up. Liz rolled her eyes and Damon's heartbeat quickened. A roundup would be very bad.

The Mayor shifted his weight and crossed his arms, addressing John, "You mean, like the one in 1964?"

"Yes." John replied. "Just like that one." He held up his hand to show the council what looked like an old pocket watch. "This is a device that can find vampires."

The rest of the council stirred in their seats. They buying into every word John was saying hook, line, and sinker.

Even the Mayor looked impressed. "Okay John, how do you suppose we go about this?"

"We plan a date, then we track as many as we can, take them down with vervain and lock them up somewhere and burn the building down with them inside it. Just like 1864."

******

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Bonnie said, taking Jeremy's hand as they began to dance. Her dress fell to the floor and flowed as they began to slowly spin in circles around the dance floor.

"Talk you into what?" He asked, grinning. "Dancing with me?"

"No." She answered glaring at him. "You know what."

Jeremy sighed, frustrated that his attempt to flirt with her had been totally discarded. "It's the only way Bonnie." Jeremy said, knowing what she was talking about. "Damon and Alaric are needed elsewhere and I'm willing to risk it."

She stopped dancing in the middle of the floor. "But I'm not."

Jeremy pulled her out of the way into an empty hallway. He looked her straight in the eyes, trying to understand the meaning behind what she was saying. "What do you mean by that?"

Bonnie looked down at the floor. _Is she blushing?_ Jeremy found himself thinking. "Jeremy, it's too dangerous. I have no guarantee that I can bring you back." Bonnie said, avoiding the question. "It will take a whole lot of power that I'm not sure I have. I shouldn't have agreed to this."

"Bonnie," Jeremy said, putting his hand under her chin and lifting it so she was looking straight at him. "I believe in you. I trust you."

The corner of her mouth pulled slightly upward as she nodded. Then her eyes began to tear up, one quickly spilling down her right cheek, most likely against her will. Her gaze fell back towards the floor.

Jeremy wiped her tear away with a gentle finger. "What's wrong Bonnie?"

She shook her head and swallowed before she looked back into his eyes. "I can't lose you Jeremy." She said.

For a moment, Jeremy didn't move. Then he did the one thing he had been wanting to do ever since she had rescued him from Klaus. He leaned forward and kissed her.

To his surprise, she kissed him back. He felt her hand and the back of his neck. It seemed to last forever and be gone too quickly at the same time.

When it ended, they looked into each other's eyes, their noses still touching. They both smiled and Jeremy reached out to push the hair out of her face. Almost immediately, she pulled him back down for another kiss.

******

Stefan spun Elena around on the dance floor, barely holding on her hand above her head as she twirled. She laughed as he pulled her back towards him, easily falling back into step with the him and the music.

The floor was filled with couples dancing, some serious, some more playful, all of them enjoying themselves. Elena spotted Caroline dancing with Matt a little ways away. She was wearing a strapless purple sweetheart dress that poofed out at the waist like a princess dress. Matt had a matching purple tie and looked slightly uncomfortable on the dance floor.

Elena was pretty sure she had seen Bonnie and Jeremy dancing together earlier. Sometime between then and now they had disappeared. They were probably getting ready for their part of the plan.

That thought brought her back to the present. Sure, she was at one of the fanciest founders day events of the year and dancing with her boyfriend, but she couldn't forget that that wasn't all it was. It was also the setting for their master plan to take down Klaus.

She scanned the room again over Stefan's shoulder. There was Alaric, standing to the side making small chat with someone. He would be ready for his part when it came. The others were probably getting ready somewhere nearby.

But there was one face that was missing. Where was Damon? He should have been there with Alaric. Elena scanned the room for the third time, fear beginning to creep into her mind for the first time that night. _He should be here._

"Hey, you okay?" Stefan said, noticing the shift in her mood.

She pulled back to an arms length from him so she could look him in they eyes. "Yeah, I just . . . I don't see Damon."

Stefan nodded. "He'll be here." He said, shrugging it off. "He's probably just off flirting with some poor girl somewhere."

Elena felt her stomach clench at the thought. Why did that bother her so much? Here she was, dancing with her boyfriend and thinking about his brother flirting with someone else. She took a deep breath and focused back on Stefan. "Yeah." She answered him finally. "You're probably right."

She continued dancing with him, enjoying the silent time, her head leaned against his chest. Like this, she could almost imagine her life was normal, that there wasn't some master plan going down tonight. She could almost convince herself that her and Stefan weren't growing farther apart by the day. She could almost believe she wasn't struggling with feelings for someone else whom she had never imagined she would ever feel that way for. Then the song ended.

As a new song began, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up and was caught off guard by the face greeting her. "Damon."

Damon turned to Stefan. "I'm sorry, brother, but could I steal a dance with your date?"

Stefan looked uncertain, glancing at Elena for guidance. She nodded to him, telling him it was alright.

"Fine." Stefan murmured, stepping away while handing Elena's hand to Damon.

Damon took her hand and they slid together easily. He put his other hand on her back and she put her's on his shoulder. They fell into step with each other and the song, drifting around the dance floor like they were floating.

"Elena, we need to talk." He said once they had gotten into the flow of the song.

"Okay." She said, letting her feet follow his lead. "Talk."

"It's about Stefan." He said, raising his eyebrows. She got the idea. It was about his suspicions. "Look," Damon continued. "I still don't know for sure if it actually is Stef, but that seems like the most likely scenario. People are starting to notice. If they figure out it's him, he's dead."

Elena shook her head. "Wait, I'm not quite following." She turned her head to the side, hardly even noticing her feet still moving rhythmically beneath her. " _Who's_ starting to notice, and why would they want to kill him? Wouldn't they just . . ." Suddenly a thought occurred to her. It had been 150 years, so she hadn't really thought much of it, but it was possible.

"Damon." She said much more serious than she had been a moment earlier. "Who's _they_?"

"The council." He answered, confirming her suspicions. He continued talking, "Elena, I managed to gain their trust. I've been spying on them for months, keeping an eye on their progress. But I'm afraid they're getting too close now."

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "Like we don't have enough other stuff to worry about."

"I'm sorry." Damon said. "I just thought you should know that they are around and getting closer to the truth. I've been doing my best to throw them off, but there's only so much I can do."

Elena nodded. "Okay look, first, let's get through this dance, and then worry about the plan. After that we can worry about Stefan and the council."

Damon smiled. "Sounds like quite a plan. And perhaps you could assist me with researching later."

It was a lame attempt at a joke, but it made her laugh and she immediately felt less stressed. "But first the song."

He nodded goofily, "We finish the song first, of course."

She laughed again as he spun her out, away from him, then back towards him. She felt totally safe and secure in his arms. It wasn't like when she was dancing with Stefan. With Stefan it was as if she was simply covering up all the stuff in her life, forgetting about it for a time, but it would all still be there when she came back to reality.

Dancing with Damon was nothing like that. With Damon, it was like she knew she would be alright. With Damon she could stare all her problems in the face and knew that they would get through it. With Damon, she could get through any hardship, solve any problem. He didn't just make her forget about her problems for a short time, he got rid of them completely.

She danced, watching him watch her. She knew that what she was feeling was probably wrong, but she couldn't help but feel it anyways. Somehow, Damon had gotten under her skin, and no matter what she did, she couldn't shake him.

The song ended far sooner than she wanted. They stepped apart and looked around, still on the alert for Klaus and his gang. It was a good thing too, because as they watched, Klaus walked through the front door to the Lockwood's mansion.


	14. October 28th 1921

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys. Wow. I wrote this chapter a while ago, but looking at it now, I'm realizing just how short it really is. I'm sorry it's so short. However, I promise the next chapter will be worth the wait. 
> 
> So despite the fact that I have very little time to write, I got a new Steroline AU idea and had to get it down. I posted the first chapter of that under the title "Starstruck by a Forbes" over on ff.net (same username as here). It would be cool if you all went to check that out. And don't worry, this story is still my main priority, but if I ever get some extra time I might write a chapter or two of that.

October 28th 1921:

It had months since Elena's emotional breakthrough. Lexi knew immediately that at least one of her emotions had been turned back on. Granted, hate wasn't exactly the emotion that was wanted, but it was something. From there Lexi had slowly drawn other emotions out of Elena. She clung to the hatred. She used Elena's hatred to show her how the only reason she hated her sister so much, was because she still loved her. There was no reason to spend so much time hating someone you didn't still care about. There was such a fine line between hate and love and Lexi had used that to her advantage.

Once Elena had both hate and love, it was fairly easy to get the rest of her humanity to come back. About a month after the "hate breakthrough" and a few days after the "love breakthrough" Lexi let Elena out of her cell. They went out for food and talked. Lexi did her best to make Elena laugh. It was a long process, but eventually, Elena got back to normal. Well, at least as normal as a fifty year old vampire could be.

Elena actually began to enjoy spending time with Lexi. It was the roaring twenties and they were beautiful, eligible young woman. They compelled their ways into fancy parties, dressing up in the latest fashion. They drank, sang, and partied. They enjoyed life. Elena began to open up to Lexi, not because she was being forced to relive memories by a vampire mind connection, but because she wanted to.

They kept each other grounded. It would the one of the best decades of Elena's life.


End file.
